Nominations are what you want to read? What you want to write? Are there prompts? WHAT?

[amanuensis1]

For some reason, I am incapable of understanding the way yuletide works.

Every year I mutter, "Maybe I should sign up for that," and every year I share my mutterings with people and am met with, "Oh, it doesn't work that way." So is there someone out there who, rather than saying, "The rules are distributed over these nineteen pages" can summarize the process in, say, something like three long bullet points of text stating, "Go here, do this, be sure not to do this, and your obligation will then be to do this by this time in this way"?

HELP MY TINY BRAIN.

Comments

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

It's really very simple! There are just three things to do:

1.) Nominations! This part is entirely optional! From now till Halloween, if you want to, you can nominate up to six fandoms that you'd like to see represented in some way: things you want to read, things you want to write, things you just think someone ought to be writing even if it's not you.

2.) Sign-ups! This will happen after Halloween. You don't have to have nominated anything to sign up! You can just choose from among the 1600 fandoms that other people will have nominated. You can request up to four fandoms, and offer to write in as many as you like.

3.) Writing! You get an assignment after signups close-- it'll be sometime after Election Day. You'll have until a few days before Christmas to write your story and post it. You can stalk your recipient and see if they have any additional requests or preferences, but you don't have to.

And then on Christmas morning, everything goes live and we all rejoice. It's easy! It's the best thing there is about Christmas! You should do it!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

This is a NICE summary! One offers to write in as many fandoms as one likes, but does one specify what one wants to write? (Like, do I say I'll write certain pairings, won't write certain pairings, etc.?) Does one get an assignment for every offer one has made?

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

You can request specific characters-- not pairings, just request that those characters appear-- and you can restrict your offer to specific characters. There's also an optional details section of the request, in which you can specify smut or gen, or give prompts, or even outline a whole plot, but writers are not bound to honor anything except the requested characters; the only hard-and-fast rule is that that the story has to be in on time, at least 1000 words, and must contain all the characters requested.

Of course, most people do honor their recipients' details, and even stalk their journals to find out what sorts of fic they like. But it's not required.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

the only hard-and-fast rule is that that the story has to be in on time, at least 1000 words, and must contain all the characters requested.

Oh, that's good to know!

I'm honestly more interested in the writing than the requesting, so it's not a problem in that direction.

[franzeska]

But the stalking is the good bit! Fie on people who don't have unlocked ljs! :-D

[sophinisba]

You can offer as many fandoms as you like and will just get one assignment.

For each fandom that you request or offer to write, you can specify one or several characters or "any" if you are open to any characters, and that will affect how the assignments get assigned. If you say "any" in your offer to write, you might well get a request for a pairing you wouldn't have thought of writing.

Filling out the form is a little tricky but the fest is all kinds of awesome. I think you'll have a good time if you join in.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I better specify the characters, then. ^_^ Thank you!

[florahart]

To an extent: you can offer up to a certain number of characters you'll write (so as to not make the programming completely impossible). You will get at least one match of something you said you would write with one of the requests the requester made.

So, like, you offer to write the aforementioned Newsfic, Jesse's Girl, Scarecrow and Mrs King, Garfield, and Toy Story. You MIGHT get someone who requested four of those, and then you would be lucky and get to pick. Or, you might get someone who requested M*A*S*H*, Garfield, Stone Soup, and the Mary Tyler Moore Show. You COULD see the MTM prompt and go OH I like that even better! and write that even though it wasn't your match, but you would only be guaranteed one match, which you got.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's TERRIBLY valuable info; what a great illustration, thank you.